Gone Again
by DANZNQUEEN
Summary: After another huge blow-up, Fang splits. Again. Then disaster strikes. The flock needs Fang. Max needs Fang. But can he put his foolish pride behind him and return to rescue them? Or will it be too late? Serious Fax developments. :
1. Chapter 1

I wrote this shortly after reading The Final Warning—it's set sometime after the third book, it doesn't really matter when exactly. Part of it is from Max's POV and part from Fang's POV—you'll know when is which because I switch from 1st person to 3rd person in the chapters just like Patterson does. I hope you enjoy it!! Please review!

**Chapter 1**

"_Fine_!" I screamed into his face. "Go, then! Leave! Get out of here!" Tears sprung to my eyes, and I angrily wiped them away with my sleeve.

"Gladly!" Fang snarled. He turned around and jumped off the roof, unfurling his dark wings with a _snap_ that echoed in the silent night. I watched as he flew away from the cabin and began gaining altitude.

The tears came harder now, and I didn't bother to wipe them away as they coursed down my cheeks.

I skidded to the very edge of the roof. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I called, with as much contempt as I could, "_And don't come back_!"

And then I immediately regretted my words. I didn't mean it; that was furious, irrational, reckless Max talking. Not the calm, levelheaded, leader-Max that I was ninety percent of the time.

Fang didn't answer, and he didn't look back. I didn't expect him to. I knew he heard me. I also knew that he probably took my words seriously. Too seriously.

Much as I wished it wasn't, my heart was breaking as I watched him fly into the night, his shape silhouetted against the full moon like in that movie about the alien, _E.T_.

When Fang was just a tiny speck on the horizon, I turned around and walked back up the roof. I couldn't stop crying. I sat back down to finish the rest of the watch, but it was same as useless; I couldn't see anything through my tears anyway. I folded my arms across my knees and rested my head in the crook of my elbow. My entire body shook with sobs.

The intense despair thatoverwhelmed me then completely overshadowed my anger. There was no getting around it: I was miserable.

How could Fang _do_ this? _Again_?Didn't he learn his lesson last time? He said he would never leave us again, would never leave _me_ again. We work better as a team, a family, all six of us together—if even just one of the flock are missing, it screws everything up.

Fang knew that. Knew it from personal experience.

Some small part of me was hoping, _praying_ that maybe, just maybe, by some stretch of the imagination, Fang would come back. Maybe he was just _mucho_ angry with me (I have a knack for making people angry) and hadn't really meant what he'd said. He would come bursting through the front door in the morning laden with bags of fresh food for us, and we could pretend this silly little fight never happened.

_Yeah_, and then he'd dress in neon rainbow colors and Total would start eating _Kibbles 'N' Bits_.

2


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_And don't come back!_

Max's last words echoed in Fang's head as he flew farther and farther away from the tiny log cabin.

Fine. If she didn't want him to come back, didn't need him, then that was just fine. He sure didn't need _her_.

But Fang couldn't focus. Max's face kept popping up in his brain—furious, tear- and dirt-streaked, her eyes blazing. And considering what happened the last time he'd stormed off in a rage, he had half a mind to turn around mid-flight and head back. He would apologize, and so would Max, the rest of the flock wouldn't even have to know about their argument, and everything would go back to the way it was before.

Fang snorted. _Please_.

Max would not _apologize_. She would order Fang to say sorry, like it was all his fault, then claim to forgive him out of the _pure goodness_ of her heart. That was just who Max was. Her pride wouldn't let her admit to being wrong.

Truthfully, Fang wasn't real big on apologies either. None of them were. Must be an avian-human hybrid thing.

A couple hundred yards ahead, Fang could see a small cave in the face of a cliff. Caves always made good places to sleep.

He landed on the cliff edge at the mouth of the cave. It was dark and damp and gloomy inside, and Fang had no means to light a fire. He was hungry, and had no food, water, or clothing. Regardless of whether he planned on staying with Max or not, he would have to go back for supplies. He would have to go back for his laptop.

But Fang wasn't ready just yet. He was still pretty darn mad at Max.

He knew that Max was just as upset as he was the last time they split up, and she said she had missed him. So she was probably missing him now. At least Fang hoped she was.

_Serves her right,_ he thought.

If he did decide to go back, he would at least wait until morning, give her a little more time to suffer without him.

Fang sat on the damp ground. The stars overhead winked down at him, as if trying to communicate with him, to tell him something important.

2


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After a few minutes (okay, so maybe it was more like a couple of hours) I calmed down and finally stopped bawling my guts out.

I walked to the edge of the roof and jumped off, landing smoothly and silently on the hard ground in front of the cabin. I headed towards the screen door, making sure my face was dry. I didn't want the rest of the flock to know I'd been crying. Tears are a sign of weakness, and a leader never shows her weaknesses.

I froze when I reached the porch. Something was wrong. I could feel it.

I slowly walked up to the window and peered inside. There was an eerie orange-ish glow coming from the living room.

"Oh, no," I whispered.

_You've got to be kidding me. This cannot be happening._

"Flock!" I yelled, yanking the screen door open so hard I almost ripped it off its hinges. I ran down the hallway and turned into the living room.

The entire far wall was completely engulfed in bright, crackling, dancing flames, which were spreading to the floor and couch at an alarming speed.

Angel, Gazzy, and Total were asleep on the couch.

"Get up! Everybody up, now!"

I kicked Iggy and Nudge, lying on the floor in front of the couch, to wake them as I shook Angel and the Gasman.

Angel rubbed her eyes and groaned as she sat up, and her eyes widened as she took in the fire casting an orange glow over the whole room. She looked up at me with fear in her eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to reassure her that everything was perfectly fine. But it wasn't.

"Wha's goin' on?" Iggy asked groggily.

"Max?" Nudge said, sounding just as frightened as Angel looked.

"Come on, guys, we have to get out of here," I said. I turned around to usher everyone out the room and into the hallway, and cursed loudly when I saw that a solid wall of fire barred the entrance to the living room.

Jeez, it was moving fast!

"What are we gonna do, Max?" Gazzy asked. He moved to stand closer to me.

"We'll find a different way out," I said, with more confidence than I felt. I gave him a little half-smile. "Don't worry."

I took a deep breath, and went into a violent coughing fit as I inhaled a lungful of smoke. My eyes watered.

I recovered and began to survey the room for escape routes, but couldn't come up with anything. The only obvious exits were the hallway and window, both blocked by the flames.

_If only Fang were here, I_ found myself thinking. _He would know what to do._

"Where's Fang?" Iggy asked suddenly, as if he was reading my thoughts. But Angel was the mind reader, not Iggy.

"He's…" I thought for a second. "He went out for a little bit. He'll be back." _I hope._

Iggy looked skeptical, but he didn't say anything else.

I looked around the room again. We were standing in the center of it, and the flames were slowly making their way towards us.

Then an idea came to me.

"The ceiling…" I muttered.

"Huh?" Gazzy asked. "What about the ceiling?"

"I could break through it," I said, getting pumped about actually having a plan. "It's only wood, right?"

"Sure," Iggy put in.

"Ig, Nudge, come here and lift me up."

"Oka—" Nudge began, but stopped when she started coughing every bit as violently as I did.

"Are you all right, sweetie?" I asked, worried. I needed to get these kids out of here, _fast_.

"I'm fine," she said, putting on a brave face. She made me so proud of her.

She and Iggy cupped their hands together. I held onto their shoulders and stepped up, focusing on my balance. I curled my right hand in a tight fist and drew it back, preparing to punch a hole in the ceiling.

_Crunch!_

"Yowww!" I screamed. "Holy crap!" I was surprised by how much it hurt. I mean, it was _wood_. I had hit much harder things before.

I glanced at my knuckles. They were scraped up and bloody. And I barely made a freaking dent!

Using all my strength, I punched again, clenching my teeth and trying to ignore the pain that shot up my arm.

Yes! It started to crack. A couple more blows and we'd have ourselves a hole, people!

As I drew my arm back a second time, Iggy started to cough. He and Nudge staggered sideways, and I almost lost my balance.

"Sorry, Max, I'm really sorry!" Iggy cried.

"No problem," I gasped, steadying myself.

The smoke was really thick now. I could barely see a foot in front of me.

I punched the ceiling once more, and big chunks of wood came raining down on me. I'd made a hole! I blissfully breathed in the fresh night air.

I tore more of the wood away to make the hole bird-kid sized, then jumped down.

I started coughing again the moment my feet touched the floor. Everyone was coughing now. They all looked scared. It was no wonder; the entire room was engulfed in flames, and parts of the furniture, walls, and ceiling were coming apart.

I hurried to Angel and picked her up, and with Iggy's help, we lifted her high enough for her to hoist herself through the hole and onto the roof.

"Get as far from the house as you can!" I called up to her. She nodded solemnly, and then disappeared from view.

"All right, Gazzy, you're next!" I said.

He stepped forward and we lifted him up, too. Next was Nudge. Finally, I gave Iggy a boost up, and he got through the hole.

"What about you?" he called.

"I'll get up, somehow," I said. "But first I want to try to get our stuff. You go with the others!"

He nodded and left. Iggy was so good at following orders.

I quickly realized that there was no chance I was going to get our backpacks. They were gone, eaten by the fire, like everything else in the living room.

I started coughing again. My throat was all scratchy and dry, and my tongue was beginning to feel like sandpaper. I couldn't see anything through the smoke. I looked up to find the hole again, but I couldn't see the ceiling at all.

I started to panic. How was I going to get out? The flock needed me. With Fang gone, who would take care of them if something happened to me?

Still coughing, I began groping around for anything at all that might help me. But my hands only touched broken pieces of furniture.

And it was hot. Really hot. Scorching hot. I was covered from head-to-toe in sticky sweat. I couldn't stop coughing. My lungs were about to explode. I was getting dizzy from lack of oxygen.

Then, above the merry crackling of the fire, I heard a screeching noise. I just had time enough to turn my head towards the sound on reflex, and then I felt a sharp, searing pain in the side of my head. I was knocked to the floor, and then everything went black.

5


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_I'm only going back to help stop Itex. That's the only reason. Max can't do it without me. As soon as we defeat Itexicon and save the world, I'm gone again._

At least, that was what Fang told himself as he flew back to the cabin where they were staying.

He flew slowly, though, since he wasn't waiting until morning like he had originally planned. He didn't want to get back too soon, and lead Max to believe has was eager to see her, or anything like that. Because that was _so _not the case. It really wasn't. He didn't have his watch on, so he had to guess that he'd been gone roughly around two hours. That was a reasonable amount of time, right?

Looking ahead of him, Fang saw something. At first it looked sort of like a cloud, but it was only a few feet higher than the trees. And the rest of the sky was perfectly clear. A few minutes later, when he was closer, he realized that it was smoke. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Surely it was nothing. One of the neighboring cabins was having a bonfire, or something.

_At three in the morning?_ said the logical voice in the back of his mind.

Fang sped up, flapping his wings harder and faster.

He would probably return to find the flock asleep in the living room and Max on the roof keeping watch, just like he'd left them.

But he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Ten minutes later, Fang's breath caught in his throat. He could see it now. The cabin was on fire. The whole cabin. Flames were leaping out of every window, and smoke was rising in ringlets from the windows and roof.

_Thank God,_ he thought as he saw the flock hovering near the trees a little ways from the cabin. Relief flooded through his body.

"Hey! Hey, guys, over here!" Fang shouted and flew towards them.

"Fang!" cried Nudge. Getting closer, he saw that there were tears running down her cheeks. He looked at everyone else; Gazzy and Angel were also crying (although Gazzy was trying to hide it), and even Iggy looked uncharacteristically frightened.

He scanned each of their faces one more time.

_There were only four of them._

"Where's Max?" Fang asked quietly, even though he knew the answer.

"She's still in there!" Gazzy yelled, pointing towards the flaming cabin. He stopped trying to wipe his tears away.

"She got us all out and said she was gonna try to find our bags," Iggy said in a rush. "We've been waiting at least ten minutes!" There was a note of hysteria in his voice.

"Fang, you have to go get her!" cried Angel.

Fang nodded. "Don't worry," he told them, trying to sound calm and in control. That's what Max would do first. Pretend everything was just fine, no biggie.

But the truth was Fang felt like crying himself. Max had been in there _ten minutes_? Anything could have happened. She could have passed out from the smoke, or gotten stuck, or gotten burned…

Fang turned around and leapt into the smoke-filled sky.

The hole in the roof was easy to find. A large column of smoke was rising from it. But there was no way Fang would be able to get back out of that hole once he jumped into it, especially if Max couldn't do it.

He ran to the edge of the roof and called to Iggy. "Get up here! I'm gonna need your help!" Following the sound of Fang's voice, Iggy made his way to the hole.

"Wait here," Fang instructed. "You're gonna have to help me pull Max through the hole." Iggy nodded silently.

Fang sat on the roof and scooted to the edge of the hole, dangling his legs over. Keeping his wings tucked tight against his back, he sucked in a deep breath and dropped to the floor.

He landed with a thud, barely audible over the crackling of the flames. Immediately he began coughing, having taken a breath when he hit the ground. The smoke was everywhere, choking him, blinding him…

Fang dropped to his hands and knees, squeezing his eyes shut tight and holding his breath. Max had to be on the floor somewhere, passed out. If he could just feel his way around, he would find her.

He didn't know how long he groped along the floor, not seeing or hearing anything; it could have been three minutes, it could have been an hour. He lost track of time completely. Fang was just about to give up hope when his hand bumped into something. Something soft, not like furniture.

It was Max. He was touching her hair. She was right there, he had found her!

"I'm here, Max," he said quietly, reassuring her, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

His breathing was ragged as he reached for her hand. He put two fingers on the inside of her wrist, and relief washed over him when he felt a pulse there. It was much too slow, though, and it was faint.

Fang stood up and reached down to scoop her limp form up off the ground; she was definitely unconscious. He was surprised by how little she seemed to weigh, how easy it was to lift her. She'd lost weight since the last time he'd carried her. They had all lost weight recently, he guessed, but Fang hadn't really thought about it until now.

He turned around in the direction he thought the hole must be. But he wasn't sure. He had gotten turned around crawling around on the floor.

"_Iggy_!" he called as loud as he could. There was no response.

"IGGY!"

"Over here!" he heard faintly.

Fang stumbled towards where he thought Iggy's voice was coming from. The smoke was so freaking thick; he could barely even see Max, cradled in is arms. He was blind in here. He wondered vaguely if this was how Iggy felt all of the time.

"I'm here, Fang!" he heard from close by. It sounded like it was coming from the left. Fang walked a few paces to the left, wrenching his eyelids open to look up for some sign of the outside. It was really hot in there, and the heat radiating from Max's body clutched close to him wasn't helping.

"Right here!" Iggy's voice was right above him. He could faintly make out Iggy's dark silhouette through the smoke.

But how would he get Max up? Iggy was there to pull her through, but Fang couldn't lift her that high by himself.

Fang thought for a minute, racking his brain for ideas. He thought he had felt the thin wooden leg of a table when he first landed in there and started searching.

He slid his foot out in front of him and moved forward a few paces, hoping to catch it around the table leg. He shuffled around in circles until his leg finally caught on it. He pulled it back towards him with his foot until it was centered directly under the hole. He laid Max down on the table as gently as he could, then hopped up on it himself. He lifted Max into his arms again as soon as he got balanced.

"Iggy?" he called up.

"I'm here!"

"I'm gonna lift Max up! Be ready to grab her!"

"Okay," Iggy replied. He sounded slightly unsure. "Is she okay?" Worry filled his voice.

"I hope so."


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you are not disappointed with this chapter, because it's really short and I don't think it's one of my best. But if you don't like it, don't worry-the next will be much better, I promise!! *a special thanks to Foxy Sox for pointing out to me that I didn't explain why Max and Fang were fighting to begin with--I hope you satisfied by my explanation of it! Keep on reviewing, please!***

**Chapter 5**

Working together, Fang and Iggy pulled Max out of the flaming cabin. Once certain that she was out of imminent danger, Fang hoisted himself out of the hole with a lift from Iggy.

Immediately he scrambled to Max's side. He felt her pulse again. It was still way too faint, and she was still totally out. Scooping her up in his arms once again, Fang leapt off the roof and flew down to the ground, Iggy right behind him. Nudge, Angel and the Gasman met them as soon as their feet touched down, tears streaking their cheeks, worry on their faces.

Fang gently laid Max down on the cool grass, falling to his knees beside her. He cupped her face in both of his hands.

"Max?" he said loudly and clearly. "Max, sweetie, wake up! Please!" He was holding back tears as he shook her gently, trying to wake her. Fang had never cried a day in his life: Not when he was almost beaten to death on the beach, when the pain was almost unbearable; Not when he realized for the first time that Jeb was never coming back; Not even at Ari's funeral, with his arms wrapped around a sobbing Max and seeing the tear-streaked faces of the rest of the flock.

He'd never shed one tear in his life before, that he could remember. But he felt about to cry now.

"Max!" Still no response. "_Maximum!_ Please, Max, wake up!" He brushed away a few stray strands of hair that were plastered to her smooth skin. "Max, come on, please wake up!" He clasped one of her hands in both of his, holding it tightly to his chest. "You can't leave us now, Max! We need you. _I _need you." He raised her fingers to his lips and softly kissed them, still clutched in his own hands.

It was all his fault. If Max…if she…_died_—he could barely even think the word—Fang could never live with himself. If only he hadn't started that stupid fight. And it really was stupid, thinking back on it—Max's next "brilliant" plan to defeat Itex was, in short, to risk all of their lives in a foolish ambush of Itexicon headquarters. Fang hadn't agreed to it, and everything got blown way out of proportion, ending with the two of them screaming in each other's faces and Fang eventually blowing her off. If he had been here, he would have stopped her from going back for their bags. She would be up and going right now, ordering them around and already panning their next move.

Max was his best friend, his partner in crime—he would do anything for her, and she for him. Life without Max would be like…like a burger without cheese. Or Total without the whole being-able-to-speak-thing. Life without Max would not be worth living.

Fang almost jumped when he felt her hand twitch in his.

"Max?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Relief flooded through every fiber of his being as he watched her eyes squeeze tight, as if in pain, before finally opening a crack.

She squeezed his hand tightly, and Fang felt a tug on his heart.

Max was alive. She was all right. Everything was going to be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I think it was the rush of cool night air that revived me.

All I remembered was the grip of panic tightening around me as I realized I had no way of escaping the burning cabin, then all of a sudden I was outside, the blissful, oxygenated air drying the sweat on my skin, my entire body engulfed in an intense pain like I'd never experienced before. My skin felt raw. My lungs felt raw. My eyes, though still closed, stung sharply. My head felt like it was about to explode.

I knew I was out of the cabin, knew I was in the air. But I didn't know how. I knew _I _sure wasn't flying. I didn't think I'd ever move again. Moving would hurt too much.

And then I heard voices. Well, one voice, really. I mean, there were other voices there, but I only listened to one of them. It sounded far away and kind of echo-y, like I was hearing it through a tunnel or something. It was so familiar, though I couldn't put a name or a face with it. My thoughts were too muddled. I wondered hysterically if the fire had melted my brain just a little. Could that even happen?

The voice was saying my name. I felt hands, so cool to my feverish skin, touching my face.

_Max, _the voice was saying. _Max, sweetie, wake up, please. _The voice sounded so sad and scared, and though I still couldn't quite determine who it belonged to, I knew that I didn't want it to be sad. This voice _shouldn't_ be sad. It wasn't right.

_Max, _it said again. And then I realized; Fang. It was Fang's voice. Fang was calling my name. My best friend, Fang. He sounded so far away; I wanted him to come closer. Why was he so far away from me?

_Maximum! _

Maximum. Fang called me Maximum. He never called me Maximum. It was always just Max. In all fourteen years of our lives, Fang had never once called me by my full name. Ever. This alarmed me even more than the uncharacteristic emotion in his voice. I struggled to open my mouth, to tell him that I was okay, to stop worrying. But I couldn't.

_Please, Max, wake up! _Cool fingers on my forehead, in my hair. _Max, come on, please wake up! _I wanted to tell him yes, of course, anything, but my lips didn't seem to want to cooperate. The same fingers wrapped around my hand, held it tight.

_You can't leave us now, Max! _

I wanted to tell him I didn't want to leave.

_We need you. _

We. The flock. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel. Of course they needed me. I had to be there for them.

I _need you. _

Fang needed me?

I tried to speak, to move, anything to let him know that I could hear him. I pretended that my brain was sending out the message to my muscles in a wave. It traveled down from my head throughout the rest of my body, reaching all my muscles. I willed my body to work with my mind, my heart, focusing on nothing but my goal.

I moved my hand. The one with the fingers wrapped around it. It was like that one tiny movement was all it took for the rest of me to come to life again.

_Max?_

With difficulty I forced my eyes open. The harsh, dry air stung like heck. The first thing I saw was Fang's dark eyes peering down at me with concern. I squeezed his hand on reflex, holding tight to it, comforting us both. I opened my mouth to talk, and immediately regretted it.

The dry air touching my scorched throat sent me into a violent coughing fit. It ripped through my chest, tore at my already burned throat. I rolled over onto my side, hoping that would help stop the coughing. It didn't. Fang placed a hand on my shoulder as I laid there virtually hacking my lungs up. God. How attractive.

Eventually the coughing subsided, and I rolled onto my back again, closing my eyes and taking slow, deep breaths, trying not to irritate my throat again. Every part of my body was in pain.

"Max?" said a small, cautious voice beside me. Angel.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Ugh. My voice was all scratchy and quiet. That'd better not be a permanent thing.

"Are you okay?" She sounded frightened. I'm sure they were all frightened.

"M-hm," I answered, nodding my head slightly. I was so tired. My eyes were still closed, and I didn't want to move.

"You don't look okay," said Gazzy. "You look like crap."

"Thanks a lot," I said sarcastically, forcing my eyes open again. The flock, all five of them, were hovering over me anxiously.

"'M fine, really," I assured them. I started to sit up. Every cell in my body screamed in pain.

Fang put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. "_Max_," he said, in his stern voice. "I think you need to go to a hospital."

"No!" I said quickly, pushing his hand away. "I'm fine! I don't need a hospital."

I started to stand up, wincing in pain. Fang stood up too and grabbed my hand to help me up. I started to limp past him, but he wrapped his arm around my waist to stop me. He pulled me back in front of him.

Then he put a finger under my chin and lifted it up, forcing me to look him in the eye. "Max, you are not fine. You're going to a hospital."

I gaped up at him incredulously. Since when does _he_ tell _me_ what to do? "I'm not going anywhere!" I took a quick, deep breath to yell at him some more. Bad idea. I started coughing again, even worse this time. I was doubled over in pain, my chest on fire and my eyes watering.

When I stood up straight again, wiping my eyes and clearing my throat, Fang raised his eyebrows at me. "I'm taking you to a hospital."

Naturally, I argued with him some more. I wouldn't be Max if I hadn't. But Fang was adamant about it. He told me my butt was going to a hospital whether I liked it or not, and there was nothing I could do about it. He yelled at me for going back into the cabin for our stuff. He said it was a stupid thing to do and that I was lucky to even be alive.

"No freaking _duh,_" I muttered under my breath.

In the end I gave in. I basically had no choice. But I don't want you to think I'm going soft, or anything. You haven't seen Fang when he gets like that. It can be kind of scary.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Maximum Ride or any of the other characters in James Patterson's series. **

Chapter 7

When it was decided that I was definitely going to a hospital, I tried to fly myself. I leapt up into the air like I've done a thousand times, but the pain that shot through my body was too much. I fell back to the ground in a heap, whimpering pathetically. Normally I would have been _so _embarrassed, but the pain was so bad that I really didn't care how weak I looked. I just wanted it to end.

I guess I must have passed out again, because the next thing I knew Fang was holding me in his arms again and we were flying. The cool air soothed my fiery skin. I opened my eyes feebly, stirring slightly in his arms. He smiled down at me weakly.

"So you finally decided to join the land of the living, huh?" he asked lightly, teasingly. But I could tell how worried he'd been by the wrinkle between his eyebrows, the way his lips were pressed together into a thin line.

I nodded, closing my eyes again.

"Don't worry, Max," Fang said, lowering his voice so that only I could hear. "You're going to be okay. I promise. We're almost to the hospital."

The hospital. Great. I winced, but not because of the pain this time. I _hated _hospitals. Hated them with a passion. We all did. They reminded us too much of the School. Just thinking about the white walls and floors, the sterile, Clorox smell, sharp needles being poked into my skin…it sent a shudder through me.

I fell asleep in Fang's arms, and involuntarily imagined the horrors I was about to be subjected to.

***************

God, Gazzy had been right. I really _did _look like crap. Under the bright fluorescent lighting, and blissfully doped up on pain meds (_anything _butValium, as I'd specifically ordered—like I wanted to relive _that_ catastrophe), I finally had a chance to really look at the damage I'd sustained.

Entire chunks of my hair had been burned away. God only knew how long it would take to grow back out. There were second-degree burns all over my body, from my neck to my ankles. That explained why I could barely move without hurting. They (meaning the doctors) said the burns would heal in about two weeks, which really meant roughly five days, what with my super-bird-kid powers of healing and all. I also had a minor concussion from the fallen board that hit me when I was in the cabin. It left a huge, ugly blue and purple bruise on my forehead (so lovely). On top of that it bled a considerable amount. That would take a while to heal, too—according to the M.D.'s, at least.

But apparently I was pretty lucky to be healing at all. I guess a lot of fire victims don't have a human-avian hybrid savior to rescue them. Huh. Who knew?

Any-who. My fears were not irrational; the hospital was every bit as horrible as I'd known it would be. Of course this wasn't my first time in a hospital; I'd just never been a _patient _in one before. Seriously. I'm almost fifteen years old and I'd never been admitted to a hospital.

I swear, it was a living hell. Every time someone came near me with a needle I'd cringe away, wishing I could just reach over and slug them. I never got any freaking sleep 'cause every five minutes throughout the night some nurse would come in to take my blood pressure, or poke me with more needles, or change my IV. The nurses were so sickly sweet it made me want to heave my lunch up. And speaking of lunch, the food there was the most disgusting thing I'd ever tasted in my entire life. This coming from a girl who's dumpster-dived, for God's sake! Oh, and don't _even_ get me started on the doctors. I swear, they were the stupidest freaking people ever. I hardly ever saw my doctor, and when he did decide to pay a visit all he did was ask me dumb questions, scribble them down on a clipboard, then leave, saying I would be good as new in no time. God. What a load of crap.

And every time I complained about any of this, Fang just sat there and laughed. He actually _laughed _at me!What he found amusing about the whole situation was beyond me.

But despite that one minor setback, I had to admit that Fang was being pretty dang supportive. I mean, for him at least. I barely remember anything about my arrival here; for the first twenty-four hours I drifted in and out of consciousness. But I'm pretty sure I remember that Fang barely left my side the whole time. I think I remember waking up in the middle of the night even, and he was there, lying in the recliner next to my bed, fast asleep. And once when I felt a needle prick in my arm and woke up just enough to take in the nurse standing by my bed with a syringe, I could have sworn Fang was right there, holding my hand. Of course, I was pretty out of it, so I could have imagined all of that.

Now that I was awake and at least partly back to my old self, though, Fang had been avoiding alone time with me like the Black Plague. I noticed that right off the bat. If the rest of the flock was visiting, or there was a nurse or doctor here, he was just fine. But every time we were left alone in the room, he would come up with some excuse to leave.

At first I couldn't figure out what was up with him, but when my mind cleared a little I thought I figured it out. We'd had a fight. He'd sworn he wouldn't come back, and then he did. Fang didn't want to talk about it.

But I would make him talk about it. He couldn't keep this up forever.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I know it's been a LONG time since I've updated this, so I hope everyone hasn't lost interest in it! Please review and let me know what you think of it! I'm only planning on writing one, MAYBE two more chapters, and I will try to get those up quicker this time.**

**Thanks to nextbestthing for beta-ing for me!**

**Chapter 8**

It was early evening when Fang walked into the hospital room. No one else was there and all the lights were off except for a small lamp on the bedside table. Max was asleep in the sterile hospital bed, lying on her back with one hand flung across her body and the other resting on the sheet by her side. She was all wrapped up in gauze, bruised and burned from head-to-toe. She looked so tiny there, so fragile. So weak. Fang hated seeing her like this. He wanted the old Max back: the strong, capable, independent Max.

He pulled the generic, gray leather recliner closer to her hospital bed and sat down, folding his elbows and resting them on the edge. He'd done this every night that Max had been in this awful place. He liked to just sit there and watch her sleep. It was his way of apologizing to her, of making up for leaving. Because if he hadn't have left, she wouldn't be in this hell-hole right now. This was all his fault, and Fang felt terrible. Worse than he'd ever felt in his whole life. The pain he felt now, gazing at Max's broken body, was worse than the pain he felt when Ari had shredded his side. Worse than when he'd left Max the first time.

Fang took her hand where it lay on the bed beside her and absentmindedly stroked her skin. He was perfectly content to sit there like that for hours on end.

Suddenly Max's hand twitched under his. Fang froze. Her eyelids fluttered open.

_Crap_.

Her eyes looked around the room, and then her gaze shifted to him. Her eyes widened.

"What are you doing?" she asked weakly. She was always tired lately. The drugs wore her out.

"Sitting with you," Fang answered.

"_Alone_? Are you feeling okay?" she asked sarcastically. Now _that_ was more like her old self.

"Ha, ha, Max." She smiled at him, sitting up in bed.

"How long have I been in here?" she asked.

"Four days."

She looked stricken.

"_Four days? _Oh my God!" She pulled the covers down and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I have to leave!"

"No, you don't," Fang said, placing a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back down. "You need to _rest_."

"The hell I do! Don't mess with me now, Fang, I'm warning you. I have a world to save." She tried pushing him away, but at the moment Fang was much stronger than her.

"The world can wait. You need to heal. Look at yourself, Max."

She sighed and stopped struggling. "Fine. But I am not gonna stay here much longer. The moment they take all these freaking bandages off, I'm out of here."

Fang smiled. "It's a deal."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither one able to think of anything to say.

Then Max cleared her throat. "So…"

Fang looked at her. She met his gaze, looking him right in the eye.

"You came back." That was all she said.

Fang nodded slowly after a minute. "Yes."

"Why?"

Fang thought for a minute. How to explain?

"I don't know," he finally said. "I guess I just can't stay away from you." He grinned. Max laughed, then started coughing a little bit. All the smoke had really taken it's toll on her lungs.

"I'm glad you came back," she said, looking down at his hand covering hers on the sheets, not meeting his eye.

"Me too," Fang whispered. That uncharacteristic emotion was back in his voice.

"Max…" he said again after a while. "I'm so sorry." She turned her head and looked at him, surprise in her eyes. Fang knew why. It wasn't like him to apologize.

"I never should have left. It's my fault you're here. If I'd known you were going to end up like this…if I'd known you were going to come this close to dying…"

"Stop it. Just stop it, Fang."

He looked up at her, surprised by the sudden force in her tone.

"It's _not_ your fault," she said. "You can't take all the blame for this. I was stupid and careless. I shouldn't have gone back in the house. It had nothing to do with you—"

"But it did, Max. Do you really think you would have gone back into that fire if I had been there with you?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but wisely decided against it and closed it again. She couldn't argue with that one. She knew he was right. "But I'm fine now, Fang," she said eventually. "Everything's fine. I'm alive, we're _all_ alive—"

"That's not the point!" he said, his voice rising. "Do you even realize how close I came to losing you?"

She just gazed at him, waiting for him to continue. The emotion Fang saw in her features was so deep, so un-Max like, that it just fueled him on more.

"When I was holding you on the ground, and you were barely breathing, I thought you were dead—the only thought running through my mind was 'Max is dead, Max is gone, and it's all because of me'. That moment, when I knew for sure that you were gone…that I was never going to see you again…Max, that was the worst moment of my entire life."

As Fang spoke, he saw one tiny tear escape and roll down Max's cheek. He reached over and wiped it away gently. But he kept his hand there, resting it on her cheek. She brought her hand up to cover his as her eyes filled with tears yet again.

"You have no idea how relieved I was…the _joy_ I felt when you squeezed my hand. I don't know what I'd do without you, Max. I _need_ you. More than I need anything. I realize that now."

Tears were now rolling down her face relentlessly. She held his hand tightly.

"Oh, Fang," she whispered, shaking her head. "You're crazy."

"It's true."

"I know," she said, laughing through her tears. "That's what's crazy."

Fang laughed too. He was just relieved that she wasn't screaming and running away. With his newfound confidence, he leaned towards Max, still holding her face in his hand. Amazingly, she leaned her head forward at the same time, and their lips met. Her hands wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, kissing him deeper.

Fang wondered vaguely if this was what heaven was like.


	9. Epilogue

**So this is the last chapter! I hope you like it! Thanks so much to my beta, nextbestthing. I couldn't have done it without you!! **

**Please let me know if you don't like the way I ended it, or if you have any suggesstions at all for the ending. Or for anything else, for that matter! So, enjoy. Let me know what you think!**

**Epilogue**

They released me from the hospital three days later. And it was a good thing, too, 'cause I swear, I was _this close _to losing it. It took all I had not to punch the nurses' lights out, so I'd settled for tearing out my hair instead.

The second I was out in the fresh air again, we did an up-and-away, the whole flock together. All six of us. Like it should be. I was grinning like an idiot, enjoying the feeling of the cold wind blowing through my hair, in my face. It stung my eyes and burned my cheeks, but I didn't care. I was just so glad to finally be outside again.

I didn't know where we were going, and at that moment, I honestly didn't give a crap. All I wanted was to get as far away from that hospital as possible. Anywhere would do. I would have been content to just fly around for days, if it came down to it. My gut-wrenching coughs had finally subsided, and my burns had all healed (for the most part). I felt great. I felt _free_.

As we were coasting on an air current, I met Fang's gaze. He flew level with me.

"You doin' all right?" he asked. "You look kind of pale."

"Perfectly peachy," I told him, grinning. He smiled back, rolling his eyes.

Our eyes met, and a silent moment of communication passed between us. After our little heart-to-heart the other night, I knew nothing would ever be the same between us again. But not in a bad way, I don't think. I had no idea what was going to happen now, or where our…_relationship_—for lack of a better word—was headed.

And right then, I didn't care. At that moment, all that mattered was that Fang was there and the whole flock was together. Sure, we still had Itex and global warming to deal with. I couldn't deny that there were difficult and most likely deadly times ahead of us. But I knew we would get through them all. We had each other to depend on, and that was all we needed.

Fang grabbed my hand suddenly and gave it a small squeeze. I met his gaze and smiled, my heart swelling.

Everything was perfect.


End file.
